


Unusual Nights

by Annablue



Category: Tales of Arcadia, Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Memory meddling, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Semi in line with s1, jlaire, kinda angsty in places
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2020-07-24 21:51:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20021599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annablue/pseuds/Annablue
Summary: What if Jim was still the Trollhunter, but he didn't know he was? What if Blinky wiped his memory every night before he went home?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is supposed to pick up the day after Jim activated the amulet, but he doesn't remember any interaction with Blinky and ARRRGH!!! or that the amulet is magical at all

Jim was tired. As he laid on his bed, watching the early morning rays of light shift on the ceiling, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. It didn’t make any sense. It wasn’t just the slight drowsiness expected when you just wake up. He was tired, like the deep seated exhaustion that comes when you pull five all nighters in a row. Jim would know, he’d done it on more than one occasion. What bugged him this time was that he had been making an effort to sleep more, and it had been working. He hadn’t been this tired in at least a month, so why did he feel so bad?  
Jim forced himself out of bed, biting back a yawn as he set about his morning routine. He moved around the house sluggishly, only getting through half of his work before his alarm went off and he had to go. On his way to the garage, he passed the strange amulet he had picked up only a few days ago. The stone in the middle glowed a ghostly blue, the metallic arms ticking softly as they revolved around the rim. As far as Jim could tell, there was nothing special about it. Nevertheless, he felt a certain draw to it. Against his better judgement, Jim slipped it into his pocket and went out to meet Toby.  
“Morning Jimbo!” Tobes chirped. “Come on, we gotta go or we’ll be late!” Toby slung himself onto his bike and turned to wait for Jim. His eyes scanned Jim’s face and he frowned.  
“You okay? You look horrible.”  
“I feel horrible.” Jim replied, a yawn slipping through his lips. “I feel like I haven’t slept in days.”  
“Must be pretty bad if you forgot to make lunch.” Toby said.  
“What?” Jim looked in his bag, noticing the obvious lack of his lunch, and facepalmed.  
“It’s okay, you can share mine.” Tobes held up a slightly soggy paper bag. “Nana said she made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I haven’t actually check though.” He eyed his bag suspiciously.  
Jim laughed. “It’s okay Tobes, keep your lunch. I’ll see what they have in the cafeteria.” He checked his phone and hopped on his bike. “Come on or we’ll be late!”  
The pair raced down the street on their bikes, following the same path they’d been taking since the beginning of high school. They were only a quarter of the way there when Jim started to lag behind. He began to swerve a little, and Toby slowed enough to put himself between his friend and the oncoming traffic.  
They managed to get to school in one piece and rush into class, albeit ten minutes late. They slipped into their seats without causing much distraction and turned their attention to their teacher. Jim fought to keep his eyes open as Strickler talked about wars so old Jim didn’t see how it could possibly hold any significance to modern life. Jim shifted uncomfortably, digging something out of his back pocket. It was the amulet he’d picked up this morning. The blue glow had dimed, and the arms were still. Shrugging, Jim slid it into his schoolbag.  
By the end of class, Jim had all but dozed off at his desk. Toby nudged his arm, snapping him out of his daze.  
“Dude, you should go take a nap or something.” Toby pulled Jim out of his seat and ushered him out of the classroom.  
“Can’t.” Jim mumbled. “School.”  
“School doesn’t matter if you can’t make it through the classes.”  
Jim shook himself awake, setting his lips in a hard line. “I can make it. I’ve been worse.” He gave Tobes a wane smile and nudged his shoulder. “Come on, let’s get to algebra.”

Staying awake was harder than Jim had thought. He kept having to shake himself awake, drawing some unwanted attention. He slipped the amulet into his back pocket again, hoping the uncomfortable feel would help keep him awake. By the end of the day, Jim was ready to climb into bed. He walked in a daze towards his bike, letting out a startled yelp when he felt a hand clamp around his arm.  
“Hold up Jimbo, what about the play?”  
“What play?” Jim blinked.  
“Uh, the one you told Claire you would try out for? Yesterday?”  
“Shoot! That’s right! When are tryouts?” Jim felt some of his weariness wash away at the thought of impressing Claire. He needed to get the part, or at least try his best.  
“Right now in the gym.” Toby said, pointing the way. “I heard some of the theater kids talking-”  
“Thanks Tobes!” Jim shouted, sprinting towards the gym. He had to get there before it ended. He ran so fast he almost ran into Claire backstage.  
“Woah!” Claire shouted, grabbing Jim’s hand, causing them to spin around each other. “Careful!” She looked at him closer, eyebrows furrowed. “Jim right?”  
“Yeah.” Jim panted, quickly letting go of her hand. “Sorry about that. I’m not too late am I?”  
“Nope.” Claire grinned. “Just in time.” She looked over Jim’s shoulder. “Looks like your on. Good luck.”  
“Thanks.” Jim gulped. He took a second to steady his pulse walked out onto the stage. He saw Miss Janeth in the front row, clipboard in hand. Some of the other theater kids were scattered around the gym, watching him expectantly.  
Jim began to panic. He didn’t know the play, he didn’t have a costume, he didn’t know what to do. His whole body screamed for him to get out of there, but he was rooted to the stage.  
“Who are you?” Miss Janeth asked. She sounded done, like she was already writing him off as a non serious tryout.  
“Jim Lake Jr.” He answered, managing to keep his voice semi steady.  
“Well,” She gestured with her pen. “We’re all ears.”  
Jim closed his eyes, tuning out the slight chatter and judgemental eyes. He opened his mouth and said the first thing that came to mind.  
“Destiny is... a gift.” The words surprised him, but he kept going. The mysterious amulet ticked audibly in his back pocket, reassuring him of his words. “Some go their entire lives, living an existence of quiet desperation, never learning the truth.” Jim opened his eyes, taking a step closer to the audience. “That what feels as though a burden, pushing down upon our shoulders, is actually the sense of purpose, which lifts up to greater heights.” Jim lifted his chin, throwing his arms out dramatically as he shouted. “Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valor, and that to strive and triumph in the face of fear is what it takes to be a hero!” He took another step closer, directing his words to not just the gym, but the world. “Don’t think!” He lowered his head, whispering “Become.” Just loud enough for it to be heard through the gym.  
There was silence for several minutes. Just as Jim began to grow nervous, the gym erupted in cheers.  
“Thank you.” He said with a nod, and turned to go back sidestage. Toby was standing there, having snuck in sometime during his performance. He gave Jim an awestruck look and flashed him a thumbs up. Jim smiled at him and turned to Claire. She was staring at him with a wide smile.  
“Where did you come up with that?” She asked.  
“I- I don’t know. It just came to me.” It was true, it had just come to him, but something about the words were familiar. He’d have to talk to Tobes later. Maybe it came from an old movie.  
“Whatever it was, it was beautiful Jim.” Claire put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a sweet smile. Jim smiled, holding back a yawn. Now that that was over, Jim felt his exhaustion creeping back. He really needed to get home.  
Claire must have noticed, because she looked at him worriedly. “Are you okay?”  
“I’m fine, just a little tired. I need to get home.” Jim pulled away from Claire and headed towards Toby. Looking over his shoulder, he said. “See you later!” and followed Tobes out towards the parking lot.

The ride home took way longer than it should have. Jim could hardly keep his eyes open and kept narily avoiding running into traffic. Toby even made him stop a couple times to take quick ten minute naps when he got really bad. By the time they made it home, the sun was going down.  
Toby escorted Jim into his house and made sure he got to his room okay. Despite his protests, Toby brought him up a bowl of warm soup and some water, setting it on Jim’s desk for him to get at his leiser.  
“You know, I could go down and cook us a nice…” Jim trailed off into a yawn. “Dinner.” He finished sleepily.  
“Nope. You’re going to stay here, eat your soup, and go to bed. Got it?” Toby said sternly.  
Jim nodded miserably, grabbing the soup and taking a few bites before putting it back on his desk and laying down.  
“Good.” Tobes spread a blanket over Jim and watched as his best friend’s eyes drooped closed. Toby nodded in satisfaction and went to let himself out as Jim mumbled.  
“Maybe I’ll go to bed early tonight…”  
“Yeah, you do that. Goodnight Jim.” Toby let himself out.  
Jim dozed peacefully as the sun set and the stars began to shine. The last thing Jim heard before falling asleep was the mysterious amulet ticking furiously in his back pocket, and the sound of heavy footsteps coming up the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2

Jim woke with a start, breathing heavily. He sat up quickly, groaning at the way his head pounded. Burying his face in his hands, he tried to calm his pulse. He must’ve had a bad dream, that was it. Jim couldn’t think of any other explanation to his racing pulse, or the panicky feeling that had woken him.  
When his pulse had calmed and his headache subsided, Jim got up and got ready for school. He went to pull on his jacket, he froze. Large, dark bruises were forming on his arms. Jim poked one of the larger ones, hissing at the jolt of pain he received. He checked over the rest of his body and found that the bruising was not limited to his arms. Several dotted his torso too, with a couple on his upper thighs. Trying to shake off his unease, Jim pulled on his jacket and went downstairs.  
Jim thought long and hard as he made his and Toby’s lunch, but couldn’t think of anything he’d done that would have bruised him that badly. He tried to forget about it. Other than a slight soreness in his arms, they didn’t really bother him. His phone chimed and he snatched up the lunches and headed towards the door.  
On the way, he passed the amulet on his kitchen table. Jim froze, staring at it. He had never taken it out of his pocket. Now that he thought about it, he had never changed out of clothes before passing out on his bed. Jim thought back to last night. Right before he’d fallen asleep, he’d heard something. The amulet, it had been ticking louder than usual, and there was some kind of thumping. Jim glared at the amulet.  
“You’re behind this, aren’t you?” The amulet did not respond.  
Jim left the amulet on the table and went out to meet Toby. He didn’t mention the amulet, or the bruises, instead opting to listen to Toby’s ramblings in an attempt to keep his mind off it.  
The school day was pretty uneventful. Jim went to all his classes, had lunch with Tobes, and made it play rehearsals. That’s right, Jim had made it into the play. It had been a huge surprise to him that morning when Miss Janeth had told him he would play the part of Romeo next to Claire, who had gotten the part of Juliet. Miss Janeth had then given his the script and told him to meet in the gym after school.  
His first recital was going great. He was introduced to his co stars and managed to get along with several, including Claire. They laughed and joked through the first half hour before Miss Janeth came in and they got started. Jim went to his bag to retrieve his copy of the script, and gave a startled scream.  
The amulet was right there, nestled in the corner of his bag. It glowed bright blue, lighting up Jim’s face for a split second before it went dark. Claire ran up behind him, putting her hand on his shoulder.  
“What happened? Are you okay?” Several other theater kids were coming up behind her. Jim took a shaky breath and grabbed his script.  
“I’m fine. Just… saw a spider.” He told her, kicking his bag against the wall.  
“If you’re scared of spiders, you’ll want to watch out in the props closet.” She told him, taking him by the arm and leading him onto the stage. He gave her a smile as Janeth called them to attention once more.

Jim was getting sick of the amulet. He couldn’t get rid of it. No matter how hard he tried, it always came back to him. It took a week, and half a dozen failed plans, to get him to finally give up. It seemed he was stuck with it.  
His nightly troubles continued. Every morning he would wake up tired, sore, and with at least one more bruise than he’d had the day before. He considered telling Toby a couple of times, but in the end decided against it. There wasn’t anything Tobes would be able to do about it anyway. No need to worry him about something he wouldn’t be able to help with.  
Through attending play recitals, Jim grew closer to Claire, much to his delight. They began to hang out outside of rehearsals and Jim introduced her to Toby. The two of them hit it off pretty well. The three of them spent increasing more time together and soon became a trio. Jim still didn’t tell them about the amulet though. Toby seemed to have forgotten Jim had ever picked it up, and Claire had never known in the first place. Better to just leave it that way, Jim thought.

Jim, Claire, and Toby were walking through the schools outside area one friday, talking about weekend plans. Well, Toby and Claire were talking about weekend plans. Jim trudged beside them, listening. He had known what he was going to do that weekend from the very start of that week. He was going to sleep all weekend, but he figured that they wouldn’t want to hear about that. He didn’t feel as tired as he had when his troubles had begun, but he still didn’t feel rested by any means.  
They all heard a slam and looked over. Steve and his group of minions were standing by one of the larger lockers. Steve was laughing, and they could hear the pained grunts of whoever they had stuffed in the largest locker.  
“Come on Pepperjack, tell us about the ‘monsters’.” Steve sneered. His friends chuckled as they heard Eli squirm uncomfortably. Steve banged on the door, causing Eli to yelp. “If you tell us, I might just let you out.”  
Jim dropped his bag and approached Steve.  
“Jimbo, what are you doing?” Toby hissed behind him.  
Jim ignored him, going right up to Steve. “Or, you could let him out right now.” He said, causing Steve to look at him. He looked surprised, then he smirked.  
“Protecting Pepperjack, Lake? Do you want to be in a locker too? Mind your own business.” He turned back to the locker. “Now, where were we? Oh, yeah. What was that about ‘monsters’?”  
“They were on the streets! Two big ones and a glowing one!” Eli squeaked out.  
Steve laughed, and his group copied him. “Oh really? ‘Two big ones and a glowing one’? Man, Eli, you have quite the imagination!”  
“It wasn’t my imagination! They were being chased by green blobs!”  
“Green blobs? Are you making this up on the spot, Pepperjack?”  
“I didn’t have my glasses on!”  
Jim stepped closer. “Steve, seriously, just let him out.”  
Steve grabbed Jim’s jacket, hoisting him off the ground. Jim heard Claire and Toby gasp behind him. “What are going to do about it, Lake?” Steve drew back a fist, ready to punch him Jim in the face. As the fist came towards him, Jim did the first thing that came to mind. He pulled his legs up and pushed off Steve. Steve flew back against the row of lockers as Jim flipped, landing on his feet. Jim’s eyes widened. He’d never know how to do that before.  
Steve came running at him like an angry bull. Jim rolled to the side, jumping back to his feet in time to grab the back of Steve’s shirt spin him around, away from Jim’s friends. Steve began to throw punches, each of which Jim dodged easily. Jim dropped to the ground and swept his leg out, knocking a surprised Steve off his feet. The crowd cheered as Jim stood triumphantly over Steve. Steve laid on the floor panting, his face bright red. He slowly began to get up. Jim wasn’t worried. He felt great.  
Before Steve could initiate another fight, Coach Lawrence came out from the gym.  
“Palchuck! Why aren’t you in practice?”  
“I’ll be right there Coach!” Steve called. He glared at Jim. “You’ve made an enemy today, Lake. Watch your back.”  
Steve left and Jim let Eli out of the locker. “Thank you!” Eli squeaked, hugging Jim quickly before running off. Jim turned back to Claire and Tobes. They were both staring at him, openmouthed.  
“Where did you learn how to do that?” Claire asked.  
“Yeah, are you taking secret karate classes behind my back?” Tobes said with a slight pout.  
Jim shook his head. “I don’t know. I never learned how to do any of that. I just kind of… acted on autopilot, if that makes any sense?”  
“Not really dude, but whatever. If you ever start taking karate though, you’re teaching me.” Toby said.  
Jim laughed, but still felt troubled. “Sure thing Tobes.”  
“Let’s get out of here.” Claire whispered. “People are staring.” Jim and Toby nodded in agreement and they left.  
Jim couldn’t stop thinking about it the whole way home. It had felt good, beating up Steve. Jim had never been a violent person, but Steve deserved it. What bugged him the most was how he did it. His mom knew Taekwondo, but she had never taught him. He’d never asked. He couldn’t think of a single time he had done anything even remotely like what he’d just done.  
Toby and Claire talked the whole way home, but Jim heard none of it, lost in his own thoughts. He remembered saying goodbye to Claire and Tobes, seeing their worried looks as he quickly went to his house. Next thing he knew, he was sitting on his bed, staring at the amulet. He couldn’t get his mind off it. There was something about it that was causing this mess. Jim knew it, even if he couldn’t prove it.  
Jim climbed into bed, hearing the now familiar erratic ticking of the amulet as he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this chapter turned out okay. I'd meant to write this yesterday, but i had a lot more to do than i'd originally thought, so it got a bit delayed. Any and all criticism still always welcome and encouraged.


	3. Chapter 3

“Hey Jim, would you mind babysitting tonight?”  
Jim started, looking up from his lunch. Claire was looking at him expectantly. Jim blinked, shaking himself from his thoughts.  
“What?” He asked.  
“Can you babysit? I got a ticket to the Papa Skull concert tonight, but my parents will be out. I can’t go unless I get someone to watch Enrique.”  
“Uh… Yeah, sure. What time?” Jim bit back a yawn. Sleep still hadn’t been working. It was always the same: the ticking, the footsteps, then he’d wake up the next morning, feeling awful. He just wished he could get a good night’s sleep for once.  
“Can you come around eight? My parents will be gone by then.” Claire grinned at him. “Thank you!” She pecked his cheek and threw away the remnants of her lunch as the class bell rang.  
“Yeah, sure.” Jim smiled, pressing his fingertips against the mark she left on his cheek.

Jim loved history. Strickler always described the events in such amazing detail, you’d think he was there. He could get even the most stubborn students interested in what he was teaching with his animated retellings.  
Then there was Mr.Strickler himself. Since Jim had began highschool, Strickler had been there for him. He seemed to pick up on Jim’s difficulties and offered to help. Over the last year and a half, Strickler had almost become a father to Jim.  
That’s what made Strickler’s sudden distance so shocking.  
Jim had first noticed him growing more reserved a few weeks ago, shortly after he had grabbed that cursed amulet. He didn’t invite Jim into his office to talk anymore. He no longer left small, encouraging notes on Jim’s returned school work. He hardly even said anything to Jim anymore, and it hurt.  
Today was worse than usual. Strickler hardly looked at Jim, didn’t acknowledge that he had even come into class. Jim tried not to let it bother him and listened attentively. Despite getting the cold shoulder from the teacher, the class was still the most interesting one he’d get to attend that day.  
At the end of the class, Strickler stopped Jim.  
“A word please, Young Atlas?”  
Jim nodded and followed Strickler over to his desk.  
“I heard from some of the other students that you’ve been having some problems.” Strickler looked at Jim pointedly.  
“It’s not too bad.” Jim muttered, staring at the ground. “Just been tired.”  
Strickler laughed. “Well, that’s not unusual, but it’s never made you volatile before. Have you been doing anything... _different_ , Young Atlas?”  
“Volatile?”  
Strickler fussed with his pen. “Your fight with Steve. I believe it happened a few days ago? You were never violent from what I can tell.”  
“Oh yeah, that.” Jim rubbed the back of his neck, looking at Strickler meekly. Despite the topic of their conversation, Jim was relieved that Mr.Strickler was talking to him again. Maybe he had just imagined his distance. “Steve had stuck Eli in a locker. He wouldn’t let him out.”  
“So you fought Steve?”  
“I didn’t mean to. I asked him to let Eli out and he came at me.” Jim bit his lip. He wanted to tell Strickler about his freaky reflexes. He wanted to tell Strickler _everything_.  
“Do you know why Mr. Palchuck put Mr.Pepperjack in a locker?” Strickler asked.  
“Eli was talking about something. Glowing monsters and green blobs.”  
Strickler leaned forward. “Do you know what Mr. Pepperjack was talking about.”  
“No, I don’t-” Jim stopped, frowning. “Goblins.” He whispered.  
Strickler’s face lit up. “What was that, Young Atlas?”  
Jim saw the enthusiastic look on Mr. Strickler’s face. The way he was leaning forward expectantly. It made Jim uneasy.  
“Nothing.” He said quickly. “Just a little distracted. I don’t know.”  
Strickler stared Jim in the eyes. “You’re sure?”  
Jim met his gaze. “Yes. I don’t know.”  
Strickler leaned back, sighing. “Thank you, Young Atlas. You may leave. I’ll see you next week in class.”  
Nodding at Strickler, Jim grabbed his bag and booked it. Jim hadn’t given much thought to what Eli had. He simply had too much on his mind already. But now that he thought about it, that word came to mind. Goblins. Eli was talking about Goblins. But Goblins didn’t exist.  
Jim froze in the hallway and focused. A murky image swam under his eyelids. Jim dropped to his knees and pulled a piece of paper from his bag. He’d never considered himself an artist, but the picture that took shape under his hands looked good, almost realistic. A round face, beedy yellow eyes, large pointed ears. Jim’s hand trailed farther down the paper, depicting an ovalish body with four long, spindly limbs.  
“I didn’t know you could draw.”  
Jim yelped in surprise and jumped to his feet. Claire was looking at the picture clutched in his hand.  
“Can I see it?” She asked. Jim nodded and handed it over. She stared at it for several moments, eyebrows furrowed. “You did draw this, right?” Jim nodded mutely. She continued to look at it for a minute before handing it back.  
“It’s incredibly detailed. What is it?”  
“I-I think it’s a goblin.” Jim stammered.  
“A goblin?” Claire questioned. Jim just nodded. Claire gave him an odd look, but changed the subject.  
“You’re still coming over tonight, right? To watch Enrique?”  
“Yeah. Eight o’clock, right?”  
“Yep! I’ve gotta get to class. See you later!” Claire ran off down the hallway, waving over her shoulder. Jim smiled and waved back. Grabbing up his bag, he shoved the picture deep down into it and set off.

Jim took a deep breath, raising his fist to knock. He’d known Claire for a month now, but he still felt a little awkward going to her house. Jim let out his breath and knocked.  
“Come in!” He heard Claire call. He opened the door and walked in. Her house was nice. Large and spacious, everything in its place. Enrique was sitting in his bouncy chair, hooked up in the kitchen doorway. Claire stood by the mirror, fixing her hair. She saw him in the reflection and smiled.  
“Hey Jim. I already gave you my number right?”  
“Yep.” He held up his phone and smiled.  
“Good. I put Enrique’s schedule on the fridge. He shouldn’t give you much trouble, he’s usually pretty good.” Enrique cooed, and they laughed. Claire put her hand on Jim’s shoulder and kissed his cheek.  
“Thank you for doing this. If you have any problems, call me. Okay?”  
“Will do. Go enjoy the concert.”  
Claire ran out the door. “See you later!”  
“Bye!” Jim called, shutting the door behind her.  
He crouched down by Enrique, offering him his finger. Enrique grabbed it, shrieking playfully. Jim frowned as he felt a wave of unease wash over him. He stood up, looking around. Everything looked fine, so Jim went back to playing with Enrique. As soon as Enrique grabbed Jim’s hand, the feeling came back.  
Something wasn’t right. Jim walked around the house, checking the doors. Everything was locked down and they were alone. There was no reason to feel unsafe.  
Jim forced himself to ignore the feeling as the evening progressed. He played with Enrique, fed him, and put him to bed. After making sure Enrique was asleep, Jim retreated back to the living room.  
It was weird being in someone else’s house. Now that Enrique was down, and the feeling of unease having abated, Jim didn’t know what to do. He sat down on the couch, and eventually turned on the TV. Flipping through the channels, Jim found an old cooking show. He smiled and relaxed against the couch.  
Next thing he knew, Claire was next to him, hand on his arm.  
“Jim, I’m back. Wake up.”  
Jim yawned, forcing himself to sit up. He rubbed his eyes, trying to orient himself. The TV had been turned off, and Claire’s bag had been unpacked on the dining room table. She must’ve been there for a while.  
“What time is it…” He mumbled.  
“Almost midnight.” Claire told him.  
“Shoot! Claire, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to-”  
“It’s okay. Enrique’s asleep in his crib, that’s what matters. You did good watching him tonight.”  
Jim stood and stretched, walking up the stairs with Claire trailing behind. He peeked into Enrique’s nursery. There he was, fast asleep in his crib, just like Claire had said. The feeling of unease came back as Jim watched the sleeping boy. Jim shuddered and closed the door. Claire frowned.  
“Everything okay?”  
“Yeah.” Jim lied. “It’s just a little chilly in there.”  
“Do you think he’s cold?” Claire tried to push past him into the room, but Jim held her back. He _really_ didn’t want her going in there.  
“He’s covered in blankets. He’s fine. I made sure of it.”  
That seemed to calm Claire down as the pair made their way downstairs. Jim grabbed his bag and walked to the door.  
“I guess I should get going. See you later.” Jim said.  
Claire smiled at him. “Goodnight Jim.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took longer than usual, i've had a busy last couple of days. It seems like i'm loosely sticking to an every-other-day update schedule, so i'm just going to plan for that. Any and all criticism always welcomed and encouraged, as always. Seriously, you won't hurt my feelings. I want to hear from you guys.


	4. Chapter 4

Three weeks. The play was only three weeks away. Jim began to sweat just thinking about it. He knew his lines. He knew what he was supposed to do, but acting with his theater friends and acting in front of the town were two very different things.  
_At least Claire will be there_ , Jim thought. She knew exactly what she was doing, she was a natural. If Jim got lost, he could always look to her. The thought helped calm Jim’s nerves a little and he tried to put the play out of his mind. It was still weeks away, he reminded himself. He had enough to worry about as it was.  
It was getting worse, all of it. He was exhausted, waking every morning with more cuts and bruises. He was dozing off in classes and jumping at the slightest of sounds. He even lashed out at Toby once when he was talking too much. Jim apologize profusely, but he could tell Toby was hurt. Tobes hardly said anything to Jim the rest of the day, and Jim was ashamed to admit he was glad. He wanted quiet, he wanted sleep, he just wanted the amulet to leave him alone!

Jim felt someone shake him awake. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and yawned, looking around. He was slumped over his desk in algebra class, but all the other desks were empty. The sun outside the window hovered just above the horizon. It would be dark soon. Jim felt a familiar dread at the thought. He’d grown to hate the night.  
Claire was standing by his desk, looking at him worriedly.  
“What are you still doing here?” She asked. “School ended over an hour ago!”  
Jim rubbed his eyes. “I must’ve fallen asleep.”  
Claire snorted. “That’s obvious. I’ve tried calling you thirty minutes ago, but you didn’t pick up. Tobes said he hadn’t seen you either, so I went looking.”  
“Thanks Claire.” Jim said, standing up. “I probably would have been here all night.” _not that that would have been a bad thing_ , Jim added to himself. _Maybe I would’ve gotten some sleep for once._  
“No problem.” They walked down the hall towards the exit. When they got to the door, Claire turned to Jim, biting her lip.  
“So, Jim. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come by my place? My parents will be out until tomorrow, and I thought maybe I could help you with some homework. We both know you’re getting behind.”  
Jim’s heart fluttered at the thought of spending time alone with Claire. He wanted to take her up on it so badly, but he didn’t want to be anywhere near Enrique. Something wasn’t right about that kid, Jim just couldn’t put his finger on it.  
Seeing Jim’s hesitation, Claire added. “Please? My parents took Enrique with them. It’ll be so boring by myself! Besides, you watched Enrique so I could go to the concert. Least I could do is help you with some homework.”  
Jim thought for a minute. “Okay. I’ll come over.”  
Claire grinned at him. “See you at seven?”  
“Yeah. See you then.”

When Jim walked up to her door this time, it was thrown open before he could even knock. “Hey Jim. Come in.” Claire moved out of the doorway. Jim laughed as he entered the house.  
“You are way too excited to do homework.” Jim threw his bag on the couch and sat down, pulling out his work.  
“It’s not hard once you get the hang of it.”  
Jim looked over his homework and groaned. “Hopefully I get the hang of this soon. I don’t like the look of these equations.”  
Claire sat next to him and began to explain. Thirty minutes in, and Jim _was_ getting the hang of it. Turns out Claire wasn’t a bad teacher. Jim finished the first side of his work and turned to her.  
“You’re right. It’s not so hard when you know what you’re doing.”  
“That’s why you have to pay attention in class. They teach you all this stuff.”  
“Yeah. I’ve just… had a hard time focusing recently. Thank you, for doing this. You really didn’t have to.”  
Claire became serious. “Jim, I didn’t invite you over just to do homework.”  
Jim’s eyebrows furrow. “Then why did you?”  
She turned her body to face him. “Jim, there’s something you’re not telling us. You’ve been acting super weird lately, more than usual. I mean, you’ve always been a little weird, but this is getting to be beyond normal weirdness. Whatever’s going on, we can help. Toby said it started a few weeks ago, after a trip through the canals. We’re worried, Jim. You’re our best friend. Please tell me what’s going on.”  
Jim felt his lip begin to quiver. He bit down on it, blinking away tears. Taking a deep breath, Jim tried to keep his composure.  
Claire leaned towards him, putting one hand on his shoulder, the other cupping his cheek. “Please. Tell me what’s wrong.”  
Jim was conflicted. He hadn’t told her because he didn’t want her to worry, but that had backfired. She was even more worried than if he’d just said something. He’d messed up, and now, sitting on her couch, looking into her large brown eyes, Jim realized he didn’t want to do this alone anymore. He couldn’t do this alone anymore.  
So he began to explain. He told her everything, not leaving out a single detail. Jim felt his eyes well with tears. He was so tired. So tired of being hurt and scared. Tired of everything.  
Jim felt the tears trickle down his cheeks as he let out a sob. Claire pulled him against her as he began to cry. She held him tightly, stroking his hair as he cried into her shoulder. Jim rambled on between sobs, exhausted and scared. Claire agreed with everything he said, no matter how random or weird, letting him know she was listening. She would always listen to him.  
“I should have never picked up that amulet.” He murmured, cries finally quieting. He cuddled closer to Claire as he felt her drape a blanket over him. “I’m so tired… so tired...”  
“I know, Jim.” Claire said, rocking him gently. “I know. Just go to sleep, you’re safe here. Get some sleep.”  
Jim closed his eyes, sinking further into her embrace. He trusted Claire. He knew he was safe in her arms. He would finally get some rest. The darkness behind his eyelids deepened as he dropped off to sleep.

Light filtered in through a window, hitting Jim square in the face. He groaned and rolled away from the light, burying his face in his surprisingly warm pillow. He hummed, snuggling closer to the source of warmth. He was still tired, but he felt better than he had in days. Maybe the amulet had stopped messing with him. Maybe it was finally over.  
He felt something shift under him. Jim froze as a hand slid into his hair. Jim yelped and sat up quickly, remembering where he was. Claire looked up at him, blinking sleepily.  
“What’s going on?” She sat up, yawning. “What’s happening?”  
“Oh Claire! I’m so sorry! I didn’t- I wasn’t trying to-”  
“Jim.” He looked up at her. Claire gave him a smile as she pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. “I’m glad you came over. You can’t keep all of that to yourself. You need help.” She cupped his face, stroking his cheek with her thumb. Despite his embarrassment, Jim found himself leaning into her touch “If you had told me sooner, I could have tried to help sooner. We’ll figure this out, okay? Together.”  
“Together.” Jim muttered, wrapping his arms around her. “Thanks Claire.”  
Claire returned his hug. “Do you have that amulet on you? Could I take a look?”  
“I can’t get it off me.” Jim grumbled, sitting up and digging through his bag. As he went to pull out his amulet, his hand brushed his phone. The screen lit up, displaying the time.  
“Oh no, Mom! She’ll be home from work any minute!” Jim jumped up and threw his bag over his shoulder.  
“Here!” Jim tosses Claire the amulet and she caught it. “It’s going to come back to me soon. Can you watch it and see what happens?”  
“Yeah, okay.” Claire ran to the dining room table and sat down, putting the amulet in front of her.  
Jim ran for the front door. “Bye Claire!”  
“I’ll call if I see anything!” Claire shouted back.  
Jim took off at full speed. He had to be back before mom got home unless he wanted to answer a lot of probing questions Jim didn’t think he could handle just then. He had fallen asleep at Claire’s house! On top of her! Not only that, but he’d soaked her shirt in tears the night before. Jim had never been more embarrassed his whole life.  
_At least she’s going to help_ , Jim thought. _I don’t have to do this alone anymore._  
Jim rounded the corner and saw his house. Jim held his breath as he walked up to the front door and twisted the handle. The house inside was dark and quiet. Jim breathed a sigh of relief as he kicked the door closed and headed into the kitchen.  
Flipping the light on, Jim saw a figure standing in the corner of the room. Jim jumped back in surprise. Mr. Strickler was fixing himself a cup of coffee. In Jim’s kitchen. In his house.  
Strickler turned around, giving Jim a smile. “Ah, Young Atlas, I was wondering when you would return. What were you doing out so early?”  
“Mr. Strickler? What are you doing in my house?” Jim squinted at him, taking a step into the kitchen.  
“I merely wanted to talk to you.” Strickler took a sip of his coffee and sighed. “Your mom has a good taste in coffee, this is quite delicious.”  
“Talk to me about what?”  
“You know what.” Strickler walked past Jim into the dining room, motioning for Jim to join him. They sat at opposite sides of the table. Strickler cleared his throat. “I know you have the Amulet of Daylight, Young Atlas. I’ve seen you around town with Blinky and ARRRGH!!!, no use denying it.”  
Jim’s eyes widened in shock. What on earth was Strickler talking about? That amulet, was he referring to that?  
“What is the Amulet of Daylight? What does it do?”  
“Why, Young Atlas, you know better than most. You are the Trollhunter after all.” Strickler took another sip of his coffee. I’m going to cut to the chase. I need it, and if you won’t give it to me, I'll have to take it from you.”  
“I can’t give it to you.” Jim said, glancing in his bag. It hadn’t reappeared yet, but it wouldn’t be long.  
“That’s unfortunate.” Strickler stood up, towering over Jim. Jim threw his hands out in front of him.  
“No! Wait! I _can’t_ give it to you! If I do, it’ll just come back! Trust me, I’ve tried.” Jim didn’t know what Strickler wanted with it, but if he obviously knew more than Jim did. If Strickler could take it away for good, Jim would gladly give it to him.  
“Take out the amulet.” Strickler commanded. Jim looked back in his bag. The amulet was sitting at the top, glowing bright blue. Jim grabbed it, holding it out to Strickler. Strickler took it from Jim, turning it over in his hand. The amulet’s light flared and it disappeared from Strickler’s hand, reappearing in Jim’s.  
Jim’s phone began to ring from somewhere in his bag as Strickler contemplated. Jim knew that it must be Claire, but chose to ignore it. Any information she had wouldn’t matter if Strickler took the amulet.  
Strickler tossed the amulet back to Jim, who caught it. “Hold on to it. I’m going to take it from you, but don’t make it too easy.” Strickler walked to the living room, Jim trailing behind him.  
“So if you take it from me, it won’t come back?”  
“That’s my assumption.”  
Jim shrugged. It was worth a shot.  
Stickler came at him. Jim dodged left, shoving Strickler’s shoulder down as he slipped passed him. Strickler fell, sprawling out on the ground.  
“You don’t have to injure me, Young Atlas.” He groaned.  
“You said not to make it easy.”  
“Don’t make it too hard either.”  
Strickler ran forward again. Jim dodged again, this time going a little slower, giving Stickler time to grab Jim’s arm and yank the amulet from his clenched fist.  
The waited, both staring at the amulet. It didn’t tick, it didn’t glow, and most importantly, it didn’t come back to Jim.  
“Well then, problem solved.” Strickler slipped the amulet into his pocket and pulled his jacket tighter. “Thank you, Young Atlas. You have been surprisingly cooperative.”  
As Strickler turned to leave, Jim grabbed his sleeve. “Wait! What is that amulet? Why do you want it? What is a Trollhunter?”  
“You really don’t know?” Strickler raised an eyebrow as Jim shook his head. “But how… Oh. That’s clever.” Strickler smiled slyly. “Let’s just say there’s more to Arcadia than meets the eye.” As Strickler walked out the door, he look over his shoulder. “Just forget about it. Don’t bother looking into it. Trust me,” Strickler’s eyes flashed yellow as he added. “You don’t want to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this took longer than I thought. But it's done now, so that's that. I'll try to be a little quicker with the next chapter. I feel like saying this every chapter is a bit redundant, so this'll be the last time, but it goes for all future chapters: Any and all criticism is welcome.


	5. Chapter 5

Jim bolted out of his house, running into the roundabout. He looked around frantically for Strickler, but he was gone.  
Jim felt a hand on his shoulder and screamed, spinning around.  
“Woah! Friend, not foe!” Toby exclaimed, holding his hands out to show he meant no harm.  
“Strickler! He- his eyes! He took it! He said-“  
“Hold on there Jimbo, calm down.” Toby took his friend by the hand and dragged him across the street, into Toby's house. He lead Jim into his living room and pushed him down on the couch.  
“Tobes! I need to tell you! I should have told you! That amulet, it’s doing something! Strickler came and I don’t understand. Claire! I need to talk to Claire!”  
“Jim, chill. I’ve already texted Claire, she's coming over. And I know about the amulet, Claire already told me.”  
Jim blinked. “When did she tell you?”  
“When you were asleep.” Toby raised an eyebrow as Jim blushed. “I know _all_ about it. Now you sit still and get your thoughts straight, I’m going to find breakfast.”  
“Wait! My mom…”  
“Got you covered. She thinks we had a sleepover last night and your staying to play games.”  
Jim sighed in relief. “Thanks Toby.” He said, slumping into the cushions.  
Toby smiled and nodded, heading into the kitchen. It wasn’t long after he’d left that there was a knock at the door.  
Toby poked his head out of the doorway. “Come in!”  
The door clicked open and Claire came in. She pushed the door closed behind her before rushing over to Jim.  
“Forty five minutes! You left my house forty five minutes ago!” Claire shook her head. “What happened?”  
Toby sat next to Jim, a pan of pizza on his lap. “Whatever it was, it really freaked him out.” Toby said, addressing Claire. “He looked like he was having a nervous breakdown.”  
“I wasn’t having a nervous breakdown!” Jim exclaimed, crossing his arms in a huff. “It just… scared me a little.”  
“Well, what happened?” Claire asked.  
Jim took his time explaining, trying to remember every word Strickler had spoken to him. It felt nice, being able to sit with Toby and Claire and tell them what was going on. Any second thoughts about telling them immediately washed away.  
“So what is a Trollhunter, and why are you one?” Toby said, chomping down on a slice of pizza.  
“More importantly, why don’t you remember anything?” Claire took the piece Toby offered her and bit into it. “Strickler said he saw you out at night, right? With people he called Blinky and Arrrgh!!!. That would explain why you’re always so tired. You must be up all night with these people. But why wouldn’t you remember it?”  
“What if someone’s possessing your body and making you do stuff?” Toby said excitedly.  
“I don’t think so. If someone was possessing him, I don’t think it would matter where he was. He didn’t go anywhere last night, I would've known.”  
“Maybe his possessor took the night off?”  
“Why would he take a random night off?”  
“Guys!” Jim shouted. Toby and Claire quieted, turning to face Jim. “I don’t know how I’m doing it, but right now it doesn’t matter. Strickler’s obviously a part of this, so if we’re going to figure this out, we need to find out what Strickler’s doing.”  
“Why do you want to know?” Toby asked. Claire and Jim turned to him in surprise. “Not that I’m complaining.” He said quickly, “But you just gave that amulet to Strickler because you wanted it gone, and now you want to find out more? Why not just forget about it?”  
Jim sighed despondently, “Because this is bigger than even I thought. It’s not just about me, something big might be coming. We need to figure out what’s going on.”  
Claire put a hand on Jim’s shoulder. “What do we do?”  
Taking a piece of pizza, Jim stood up and faced his friends. “We follow Strickler. See if we can find anything out. There have to be more people who knows what’s going on. Maybe Strickler can lead us to them.” Jim took a bite of his pizza, thinking for a minute before adding. “Eli. We need to talk to Eli.”  
“Why Eli?” Claire asked.  
“Remember when Steve was beating him up?”  
“And you kicked his butt!” Tobes exclaimed, punching the air.  
“Yeah, but that’s not the point. Steve was picking on Eli because he said he’d seen monsters on the street.” Jim said.  
“So he might have seen part of what's going on.” Claire summed up. “He might know something.”  
“Exactly.”  
“Okay, so how do we do this?” Tobes reached for another slice of pizza and took a bite.  
“Well, there’s three of us, and two tasks. We’ll split up. Claire and I will follow Strickler. Tobes, you see what information you can get out of Eli.”  
“Why do you guys get to stalk Strickler?” Toby whined. “If Steve sees me with Eli, I’ll never hear the end of it!”  
“You’ll have better luck getting Eli to talk.” Jim reasoned.  
“How? You two have been doing that play with him for months. He knows you! You just want to go sneaking around with Claire!”  
Jim blushed. “No! I just think we’re more equipped for sneaking around. Your not exactly stealthy, Tobes.”  
“Uh, huh.” Toby rolled his eyes, sitting back on the couch. “Fine.” He grumbled. “I’ll talk to Eli, but next time I want a cool job!”  
Jim put his hand on Toby’s shoulder. “Thanks Tobes. I owe you one.”  
“You owe me way more than one.”  
“Okay, that’s enough fighting you two.” Claire stood, pulling Toby up with her. “We’ve got to get going.”  
“One more question. If these people come for Jim every night, why does he still go with them?” Toby asked, turning to Jim. “Why wouldn’t you just refuse, or leave yourself a note or something?”  
Jim thought for a minute. “Good point, Tobes. I don’t know. Maybe I tried to leave myself a note and they wouldn’t let me? If we really are doing something important, maybe I choose to go with them every night?”  
“What if you don’t remember all this at night.” Claire offered, gesturing widely. “If they can take away your memories of the night, couldn’t they take away your memories of the day?”  
Jim’s eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t think so. This all started only a few months ago, so what would they do with all the time before that? I think I would question years of my memory going missing. Seems a bit far fetched.”  
“Either way, what are you going to do? Do you want to keep going with these guys?” Toby asked.  
“Until we figure out what’s going on, no.”  
“If they come for you at your house, maybe you should start staying at our houses.” Claire suggested.  
“Sleepovers!” Toby exclaimed. He latched himself to Jim’s arm. “I call him! My house is always open to my best friend!”  
Jim laughed. “Alright. When we get back from watching Strickler, I’ll grab my things and come over.”  
“Yes!” Toby jumped, punching the air.  
“Now that that’s settled, everyone ready?” Jim asked, surveying his team. Toby and Claire nodded. “Alright, let’s get going.”

Jim was starting to hate this mission. Him and Claire had been camped out beside Strickler’s office for three hours, and counting, while Strickler sat at his desk doing paperwork. It seemed unlikely that he would be going anywhere any time soon.  
“Still nothing?” Jim asked, his back to the wall beside the door, head resting wearily on his knees. He heard Claire shift beside him to peek into the office.  
“Nothing.” She sighed, coming back to sit next to him.  
“How much paperwork does he have left?” Jim groaned.  
“A lot.”  
The pair were startled by a quiet grinding noise coming from the office. They scrambled to their feet, both fighting to look through the small pane of glass. Strickler was standing by the back wall to his office, clicking the lid back on to his pen. The wall in front of Strickler was trembling. It slid down into the floor, revealing a hidden room in the back of his office.  
Jim gasped when he caught sight of the amulet on a small table in the back of the room. Claire, however, was focused on the many books piled high on bookshelves.  
“Look at that language.” Claire breathed. “It doesn’t look like any I’ve ever seen.”  
“Trollish.” Jim murmured, his attention on Strickler and the amulet.  
“What?”  
Jim blinked, realizing what he’d said. His eyes went wide. “Trollish. It’s Trollish. How do I know that’s Trollish?”  
“You must have seen it somewhere. Can you read it?”  
“I don’t know. It’s too far away.”  
Strickler picked the amulet up and turned it over in his hands. He seemed to be muttering to himself as he wandered the room.  
“Can you read lips?” Jim whispered.  
“Kind of? It looked like he said ‘wouldn’t work’ and ‘something missing’.”  
Jim bit his lip as he watched Strickler wander over to one of the book shelves, pulling out a large, dusty volume, flipping through it for a few minutes before sliding it back on the shelf. He put the amulet back on its table and closed the wall, hiding the room from view. Jim and Claire ducked out of sight as Strickler made his way back to his desk. Next time they looked, he was sitting in his chair, staring at nothing, obviously lost in thought.  
They stayed there for the rest of the afternoon, but nothing else of note happened. At the end of the day, Strickler packed his bag and left. Jim and Claire trailed him at a distance. He went right to his house, a small brick building near the outskirts of town. They looked through all the windows, but everything seemed normal. Jim’s anxiety came back with the setting sun and they decided to call it a night. Before they left, Claire hid a small camera in one of the bushes outside his front door. They’d know if he went anywhere.  
Halfway home, Jim’s phone began to ring. Claire’s eyebrows went up when Jim showed her the ID. It was Toby.  
Jim swiped his finger across the screen and held the phone to his ear. “What’s up Tobes? Did you get anything out of him?”  
“Not exactly.”  
Jim stopped walking, “What happened?”  
“I found him in the park this morning. He was reading the new Sally Go Back comic book, so I got him talking about that. He started talking about aliens and stuff so I asked him about the monsters he was talking about. He said he’d have to meet me tonight to show me. I’m afraid I’ll have to call off our sleepover.”  
Jim frowned. “As long as he’s going to tell you. Are you going to his place or…”  
“He’s coming here. Sorry Jimbo, he refused to let me go to his. Something about his mom.”  
Trying to keep the slight tremble out of his voice, Jim said. “It’s alright Tobes, I’ll figure something out. Meet at my house tomorrow at nine and we’ll share our findings.”  
“Got it Jimbo. See ya!”  
“Night Tobes.”  
Hanging up, Jim turned to Claire. “Eli’s going to Toby’s house tonight. He promised to tell him what he saw.”  
“That’s good, but what about you?”  
“I guess I’ll stay at my house tonight.” Jim hoped he looked less afraid than he felt. He didn’t want to go with these people. Who knew what they were having him do. Maybe he’d barricade his door. But would that really keep them out?  
“How about you stay with me again?” Claire said. She blushed. “I mean, at my house. I have some extra blankets and pillows. You can sleep on the floor if you want.”  
Jim smiled, relieved. “Thank you.”  
They changed direction, heading towards Claire’s house.

Jim sat on Claire’s bed, eyeing the window and door. He knew it was stupid, they wouldn’t come for him here, but he couldn’t help being paranoid. Everything he had learned bounced around his head. What the heck was going on?  
The door opened and Jim jumped, muscles tensing. Claire slipped into the room and Jim relaxed, letting out a breath of relief.  
“Here.” Claire put a stack of blankets beside him and dug an extra pillow out of the corner of her bed. “Will this work?”  
“Yeah. Thanks Claire.” He took the blankets and began making his bed in the middle of the room, still shooting the occasional glance at the window and door. Claire, picking up on his unease, knelt next to Jim.  
“Everything okay?” She asked.  
Jim nodded. The AC turned on, causing the house to creak loudly. Jim flinched, eyes darted instinctively to the door. Claire’s eyes widened slightly in understanding. She thought for a second, snapped her fingers and stood. Grabbing her blankets off the bed, she began to spread them by the door. Jim stared at her, confused.  
After she finished making her bed, she walked to the window, locking it securely and drawing the curtain. On the way back to her bed of blankets she ran her hand over Jim’s hair to calm him.  
“I think I’ll join you down here tonight.” She said, laying lengthwise against the door, acting as a barricade. Jim smiled. She was going to make sure no one came in. Jim couldn't help but wonder what he'd done to deserve someone like her in his life.  
Jim yawned, laying down on his own blankets. “Thank you for doing this.”  
“Of course.” She said, scooting forward enough to kiss his forehead. Returning to her previous position, she reached for the light switch. “Lights on or off?” She asked.  
Jim hesitated, reaching for her hand as he said. “Try off?”  
“Sure.” Claire grabbed his hand and flipped the light switch. Jim tensed as darkness enveloped them. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing sleep to come quickly. Claire ran her thumb over the back of his hand soothingly.  
“Goodnight Jim” Claire said.  
“‘Night Claire.” Jim muttered back, passing out.

Nine o’clock rolled around next and the trio met at Jim’s house. They walked around the house, looking for signs of entry, but nothing was out of place. If they hadn’t known someone was sneaking in, they never would have suspected.  
The teens retreated to the kitchen and Jim made breakfast as they began to share their findings. Claire started, filling Toby in on all her and Jim had seen in Strickler’s office. Jim finished making omelets and they took their food to the living room. Claire had snuck back over to Strickler’s house early in the morning to retrieve the camera. She turned it on and pressed play. They skimmed through the video, hoping to see something.  
Around ten p.m the front door opened. Claire slowed the video as they watched Strickler slip quietly out of the house. He looked around nervously, drawing his coat closer as he strode quickly down the sidewalk and out of sight.  
The trio exchanged curious looks and Claire skipped through more of the video. At five in the morning Strickler came back, looking tired and agitated. He walked right up to the door, unlocked it, and slammed it shut behind him.  
“I wonder where he went.” Claire said, turning the camera off and setting it down.  
“Looks like you’re not the only one sneaking out at night Jimbo.” Toby said, elbowing Jim in the side.  
“Did you learn anything from Eli last night?” Jim asked.  
“Some. He mostly just talked about crazy conspiracy theories.” Toby rolled his eyes. “But, he did tell me something of importance.” He paused for dramatic effect.  
Claire rolled her eyes at him. “Well, what is it?”  
“We need to check out the canals. Eli saw something pretty crazy down there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this took way longer than it should have. Didn't take long for my every other day schedule to go out the window. I'm going to try to do better, but school makes it kinda hard.


	6. Chapter 6

“How come Claire gets all the cool jobs!” Toby whined. Jim pushed a stray tree limb out of the path, revealing the canals.  
“Trust me Tobes, stalking Strickler isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Besides, you're the only one who knows what we’re looking for.”  
The sun was setting fast, casting the canal in deep shadow. Standing by the edge, Jim could just barely make out the bottom. He swallowed hard, trying to push away his fear.  
Jim felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over at Toby, who offered him a comforting smile.  
_I’m not alone,_ Jim thought. _Toby’s here. They can’t take us both._  
Jim took a tentative step forward, letting his foot slide a few inches down the canal slope.  
“Here goes nothing.” He said, crouching by the edge and leaning forward. He bit back a yelp as his body rushed down the slope. His foot hit the bottom and he stumbled, just managing to stay upright.  
Dusting himself off, Jim turned to look around. It was dark, really dark. Looming in the darkness was a bridge. It creaked and groaned under the weight of cars zooming across it. The sound was ominous in the dark canal.  
Jim crossed is arms across his chest, inching closer to the wall. “Come on, Tobes!”  
“Coming!” Toby called. Jim heard a scraping sound behind. Toby hit the ground with a thump and a small cry of surprise. Jim offered him his hand.  
“You all right Tobes?” Jim asked, pulling Toby to his feet.  
“Fine.” He grunted. “You?”  
Jim looked himself over. There was a small rip in his jeans by his calf, the space around it stained a shade darker than the rest of his jeans. He prodded at the rip with his finger. A jolt of pain ran up his leg. Jim winced, quickly pulling his hand away. He took a few steps. It ached when he walked, but it wasn’t too bad.  
“I’m good.” Jim said. Toby raised an eyebrow at him, but Jim shrugged it off. “Which way?”  
Toby pointed to the ominous looking bridge. “There.”  
Jim gulped. “I was afraid you’d say that.”  
“You can go back if you want.” Toby said as they made their way over. “I can handle this.”  
Jim shook his head. “I am not leaving you out here. We’ve got to cover each other’s backs. Who knows what we’re dealing with.”  
Toby gave him a sideways grin. “Like a wingman?”  
Jim snorted. “Your not calling me Wingman if that’s what your asking.”  
“Come on,” Toby elbowed Jim. “ _Wingman_.”  
Jim glared. “No.”  
Toby chuckled. “Fine.”  
They walked up to the bridge. Jim hesitated a second, and stepped under the bridge. He blinked, willing his eyes to adjust to the deeper shadows. Toby grabbed Jim’s arm and pulled him over to one of the sides. There was a bare stretch of concrete under the curved supports. Toby pressed his hand to it, then banged on it.  
“Feels solid.” He commented.  
“It’s concrete. It’s supposed to be solid.”  
“Not according to Eli. He said that one night he saw it break open and two stone monsters came out.”  
Jim raised an eyebrow. “Why was Eli anywhere near here at night?”  
“Who knows. Eli’s weird. Anyway, he said it’s happened more than once.”  
“Okay. So we’ll set up here and watch. Somewhere out of sight…” Jim scanned the area. Nothing but flat concrete for as far as he could see. This was going to more difficult than he thought. Toby nudged his shoulder and pointed up. Jim looked where he pointed, just being able to make out the support beams.  
“I don’t think anyone would see us up there.” Toby said.  
“Good thinking Tobes.”  
“One problem though: How do we get up there?”  
Jim contemplated for a minute. Snapping his fingers, he backed up several steps and sprinted at the wall. He kicked off of it, flipping onto the nearest beam.  
Jim sat there, wide eyed as Toby slow clapped from below him.  
“Nice to see your mysterious skills put to good use.” Tobes said. “But I still need to get up there, and I'm not trying that.”  
Without thinking, Jim wrapped his legs around the beam and slipped upside down. The cut in his calf screamed in pain, but he ignored it.  
“Give me your hands.”  
Toby slowly raised his arms up and grasped Jim’s hands with his own. He yelped in surprise as Jim swung him up onto a second beam. As soon as Toby was settled, Jim righted himself and rubbed at the sides of his calf. He froze.  
“Did I really just do that?”  
“Yes. And it was awful.” Toby looked pale. “Never do that again.”  
Jim gave his friend a smile. “Now we just have to wait.”  
“And try not to fall asleep.” Toby said pointedly. Jim rolled his eyes.  
“I’m not going to fall asleep on a mission like this Tobes.”  
“Just promise not to fall off, okay? If you feel tired, lay down. I can wake you if something happens.”  
“I’ve had two nights of uninterrupted sleep, I’m pretty sure I can make it.” Jim argued. Toby glared at him. “But if I feel tired, I’ll lay down. Happy?” Jim sighed. _Not that laying down would keep me from falling._   
“Yep. That’s all I ask.”  
Jim rolled his eyes again and focused on the wall under them. They talked on and off while they attempted to pass the time. Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait long.  
The wall under them cracked. Toby broke off mid sentence at the sight of it. The crack expanded, more cracks spreading from the original. Then it broke. Jim and Toby shielded their faces, expecting shrapnel to fly. Instead of shards flying across the canal, they hovered around the hole, held in place by swirling blue magic.  
“Woah.” Toby whispered, slowly bringing his hands away from his face. “This is so cool.”  
Jim nodded in agreement, wide eyed in wonder. “Let’s go-” He stopped as the bits of concrete swirled and out came two... _things_. One had stony blue skin, four arms and six eyes. Four small horns sat on its head, two nearly swallowed by its stiff blue hair. The other was twice as large as the previous one, with gray skin and a wild mane of green hair. Swirled markings were carved into its body, going from its chest to its tail. Large green eyes glowed in the darkness.  
“We just have to hope Master Jim has stopped avoiding us.” The blue one was saying. Jim gulped as Toby let out a small whimper. “If this keeps up, I don’t know what we’ll do. He needs to train if he’s got any chance of defeating Bular, and with them trying to open the bridge…”  
“Could tell him.” The gray one suggested. They monsters started walking up the canal towards Jim’s house.  
“Vendel would have my head! It’s dangerous to have a human knowing our secret.”  
“Jim scared. Needs to remember.”  
“I know old friend. I just don’t know what to do.”  
Jim started, hearing a small grinding noise behind him. The pieces of concrete were swirling again, moving back into place. The blue glow lessened as the portal began to close. Jim glanced back at the monsters, who had almost disappeared into the darkness. If they was going to go, they had to act fast.  
“Come on Tobes!” Jim hissed, swinging himself to the ground and leaping into through the portal. His vision blurred, the world taking on a blue hue. He came out on the other side and his vision cleared. He found himself on a ledge above a deep pit. Glowing crystal stalagmites lit the area in a pale orange glow. Jim stared in shock at what he was seeing, feeling a strange sense of familiarity. They were definitely going in the right direction.  
“Jim!” Toby shouted. Jim turned back to face the portal, which was closing fast. Toby was running at it, arm outstretched. He wasn’t going to make it.  
“Toby!” Jim yelled. He reached his hand through the portal, reaching for Toby's hand. The pieces came together quickly, until only a small hole remained. Jim was forced to pull his arm back in as the final piece slid into place, sealing him inside, and Toby out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, I'm considering doing a chapter taking place at night with Blinky and Arrrgh. Still not decided, but if i do it'll be chapter after next. So, yeah.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it took a while, but here's the next chapter!

Jim pounded on the wall, panic clawing at his insides. “No! Toby! Let me out! Open up!” Jim stared at the wall, tears blurring his vision. Sliding to his knees, Jim buried his face in his hands. “Please. I don’t know where I am.” A small sob escaped him. “I don’t want to do this alone.”  
The wall never budged. If Toby was trying to get to him from the other side, Jim couldn’t hear him. He took a deep breath, wiping his eyes and rising back to his feet. He wasn’t going to get anywhere sulking in front of the door.  
Jim inspected the landing he was on. It seemed to be a ledge jutting out from the cave wall, smoothed over time by traveling feet. Jim searched the nooks and crannies in an attempt to find some switch to open the door, but came up dry. If there was something that worked the door there, Jim couldn’t find it. He walked to the edge of the ledge, looking down to see that it dropped off into an abyss. Jim decided to stay away from that side. He didn’t fancy falling to his death. On the other end, Jim saw a bluish crystal attached to the side. It looked thick and strong, appearing to be the only way off the ledge, and Jim cautiously put his foot down on it.  
It lit up bright blue. Jim had to turn away, shielding his eyes at the sudden brightness. The crystal next to it lit up, then the next, and the next, spiraling down into the cavern like stairs. Jim looked around one last time and, seeing no reason to stay there, shrugged. He creeped onto the first stair, hugging the wall. _Please don’t fall, please don’t fall,_ Jim chanted, inching his way down the glowing staircase. It seemed to go on forever, spiraling down into the darkness. Just as Jim was about to give up and go back, he saw a warm orange glow coming from a door below him. His eyes widened as he picked up his pace.  
Jim’s feet his solid ground and he sighed in relief, thankful to be off those treacherous crystals. He looked around, trying to find the source of the warm glow. A stone arch sat a little ways off from the stairs, the light seeming to be coming from the other side. Jim inched forward, holding his breath as he peeked around the corner.  
The first thing Jim noticed was the light. Beautiful and soft, originating from many multi colored crystals scattered across the largest cave Jim had ever seen. They hung from the ceiling and sprouted from the ground, lighting the cavern up in the most beautiful way Jim could imagine. The crystal in the center though, that one was the brightest, demanding all of Jim’s attention. It lit up orange and gold, rising almost to the roof of the cavern, hundreds of feet in the air. Everything in the cave was built around it, spiraling into a rock hewn city the size of Arcadia itself.  
Jim tore his gaze away from the crystal to study the city or, more specifically, its inhabitants. Even from his position on one of the higher ends of town, they looked enormous. The warm light brought out the glittering specks in their stone skin and glistened through crystal protrusions, making them look like works of art. Jim looked closer at them, taking in a sharp breath. Some seemed almost humanoid and others… did not. Not by a long shot. Jim saw four arms, he saw hunched backs and fangs and tusks. Most had some kind of horn sprouting from rough looking unruly hair.  
Jim ducked behind the arch, trying to steady his breathing. Monsters. A subterranean city of monster living under Arcadia. How did no one know about this? How did they all stay hidden? What did they want with him? Jim took a deep breath, gathering his courage. There was only one way to find out.  
He slipped out from behind the arch. Checking that the coast was clear, he ran down a long set of stone steps as quietly as he could and ducked behind the first shop he came to. Jim hissed as the pain in his calf flared at his sudden movement. Glancing around nervously, he let out a small sigh of relief. No one had seen him. Jim took a minute to orient himself. He looked up and down the street, feeling a twinge of familiarity. He must have come here before. Surely there was somewhere he could go to jog a few memories, or at least find a way to get out of there. Closing his eyes, Jim concentrated. A brief map of the city flashed through his mind. His eyes snapped open and he grinned.There was somewhere he needed to go.  
He traveled quickly through the city, ducking behind whatever he could get to. A few of the monsters almost spotted him. He could tell from their sideways glances and uneasy shuffles that they suspected something unwelcome was near. It all added to Jim’s nerves, making him jumpy. It was only a matter of time before he messed up and one of them found him.  
Jim reached his destination and groaned in frustration. The place he was looking for was right in front of him… across a street littered with monsters. Jim put his face in his hands.  
“Why is everything so difficult?” He muttered. There was no where he could go. He was stuck, crouching behind a cart filled with who-knew-what in a city full of monsters. His calf ached horribly, and he was tired. Jim felt the overwhelming urge to just lay down behind the cart and nap. He could always deal with the consequences later. It would be so easy, but he couldn’t. He needed to get across the street. He wished more than anything that he had Toby with him. Toby was good at coming up with plans, however crazy they may be. Jim rubbed his face, sitting up straighter. He couldn’t stay there. Whatever he was looking for, it wasn’t worth it. He had to get back up to Arcadia. To his mom, to Toby, to Claire. He had to make it back.  
He turned to face the way he'd came, eyeing the path he’d taken a few minutes before. It was clear, a straight shot back. He almost started back that way, and would have had the nagging thought in his brain not forced him to stop and reconsider. There was something in there, something that would help him. He had to get into that shop, or library, Jim realized, seeing the shelves piled high with books inside. Jim studied the building, then closed his eyes. He saw a blurry picture of the interior swimming before his eyes. He snapped them open. He’d been in there before. It belonged to the four armed monster. He was a scholar, Jim remembered. His curiosity grew with each small memory that clicked. He needed to get inside. Maybe he’d finally remember what’s going on.  
He still had to make it across the street. There had to be some way. A grin split Jim’s face as he realized something. He’d been to this city before, the bits and pieces of his memory were enough to convince him of that. If he’d been here before, then these monsters must have seen him around before. He didn’t need to hide, he could probably waltz right across the street.  
He started to stand and froze, sinking back into his crouched position as fear washed over him. _Easier said than done_ , Jim thought, grinding his teeth in aggravation. _Just do it. Get up and walk across the street. Act like you belong. Come on Jim, get up!_  
He took a deep breath, shoving down his fear as he stood and walked out into the street. Jim tensed, waiting for them to come after him, to grab him, to kill him. Instead, the monsters… smiled. They waved and shouted hello. Jim walked across the street with a dazed smile plastered on his lips, waving back at the monsters. No, not monsters. Trolls. They were Trolls, Jim remembered.  
Jim held his breath as he ducked into the library. His eyes danced around the room, searching for any sign of life. His released a relieved sight as he registered the empty library. Jim went to inspect the shelves, running his fingers across the aged spines of the books stored there. The titles were all written in Trollish, but he could make them out. He silently thanked the trolls for teaching him their language as he pulled a tomb labeled ‘ _A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore: Volume 47_ ’ from the shelf. He felt a sense of familiarity, gazing at the book. He’d have to look through it later. He was probably supposed to read it anyway, Jim chuckled to himself.  
Tucking it under his arm, Jim wandered further into the library. He knocked against an old chair and felt pain flare in his calf. Jim grit his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut as he leaned heavily against a stone table, waiting for the pain to subside. Cracking his eyes open, Jim saw a book propped open on the desk. His eyes instinctively scanned the pages and he gasped in surprise. It was opened to a page detailing memory manipulation. More specifically, how to target and wipe certain events from someone’s mind. Jim reached for the book, only to yank his hand back as a crash sounded from the library's entrance.  
“Sorry.” A deep, yet soft, voice said. Jim jumped away from the table, eyes scanning the room frantically, searching for somewhere to hide.  
“Not to worry old friend, I meant to reorganize those anyway.” Jim heard heavy footsteps as two large creatures shuffled into the room. Jim saw a pile of old furs laying on the ground and dove for it, throwing the blankets over him as the trolls entered the room.  
“Evaded again.” A scholarly voice said. Jim could practically see it shaking its head. “If this keeps up, we’ll have to take drastic measures.” There was a dull thunk and Jim heard the creak of old wood.  
“Figure it out, Blinky.” The deeper voice said. “Always do.”  
Blinky gave a tired chuckle. “Thank you, ARRRGH!!!. I hope we do.”  
The library lapsed into silence as Jim fought to stay still under the multitude of furs piled on top him. The area had quickly warmed to an uncomfortable temperature, causing sweat to drip down his forehead. The hot, dry air made it hard to breath and the furs agitated his injured calf. Panic began to take him once more as he resisted the urge to squirm. He needed out! He couldn’t stay there, not all night! But if he was caught by the trolls, the whole trip would be for nothing. He had to force himself to calm down and wait.  
He swallowed his panic, making himself take long, deep breaths. It helped, and Jim managed to stay covered for an additional fifteen minutes before he finally had to throw off the furs. Gasping for breath, Jim glanced around the room. The owners of the library were the trolls Jim and Toby had seen earlier. They were both there, mercifully asleep. The blue one, who Jim assumed was Blinky, was sitting on the wooden chair, slumped over the desk with his face pressed to a book. The green-gray mossy one, ARRRGH!!!, was curled in a ball on the opposite side of the room, his head pillowed on his arms.  
Jim took a hesitant step forward, careful not to make any noise. When the trolls didn’t move, he took another, slowly tiptoeing towards the door. Before he could leave, Jim’s eye caught on a glowing orange crystal, a handle made of wood attached to the end. One of Blinky’s hands rested on it, keeping it pinned to the table.  
_Horngauzle,_ Jim thought. His eyes widened as a memory flitted across his brain. Biting his lip, Jim creeped back up to the stone table. He reached for the crystal, his eyes flicking between Blinky’s sleeping face and the Horngauzle. Jim grabbed the edge of the handle and took a deep breath, counting to three before giving it a sharp tug. The Horngauzle slipped right out from under Blinky’s hand, which landed on the table with a dull thud. Blinky shifted a bit, muttering something under his breath before settling back down.  
Jim breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to the door, only to find himself staring into the large green eyes of ARRRGH!!!. Jim gave a small yelp, jumping away. ARRRGH’S hand flew out, grabbing Jim before he could knock into Blinky. ARRRGH!!! held a finger to his lips and pointed to the door.  
Jim stared at the troll as he curled back into a ball, giving Jim a wink before closing his eyes. A smile flitted across Jim’s face as he backed out of the library and ran for the crystal stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, my sister (a huge dragon prince fan) has convinced me to write a dragon prince/trollhunters au and i'm actually pretty excited about it. I haven't started writing yet, but i'm going to soon. It's going to be loosely following the dragon prince story line but with lots of extra characters( the TH crew!) and trouble. The problem will be finding out how to balance that with this once i've started writing it 😅


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm alive. Sorry it took so long, but here's the next chapter

Jim pressed his hand against the cold stone wall, watching as the rock glowed and cracked apart, revealing the canal hidden behind the wall. Jim squinted as the morning sun hit his eyes and he stumbled forward, anxious to get out of the darkness.  
“Jim!” Jim turned towards the shout only to be tackled to the ground by a red blur. The book he’d grabbed flew from his grip. “You’re okay!” Toby cried, hugging Jim tightly. He pushed himself up, looking Jim over. “You are okay, right?”  
“I’m okay.” Jim wheezed. Toby grinned and stood, pulling Jim to his feet. Jim stumbled as pain flared in his calf.  
Toby’s eyebrows drew together in concern. “What’s wrong?”  
“It’s nothing.” Jim said, backing up a few steps. “Let’s go meet up with Claire.”  
“ _Jim_.” Toby insisted.  
Jim sighed. “I skinned my calf a little coming down the canal slope last night. It aches, that’s it.” He went to pick up the book, wincing slightly as he crouched down. He shook it off, walking back to his friend.  
Toby knelt down behind Jim, surveying the injury. He poked at it and Jim hissed. “You’re right, it doesn’t look too bad. Definitely a little more than just a little skinned though.” Toby stood, taking Jim’s arm. “Let’s go get that taken care of.”

Jim plopped down on his couch with a tired sigh. He’d been up all night (again), and now that the adrenaline had faded, he felt it. Claire came out of the kitchen, first aid kit in hand, and set about bandaging Jim’s calf.  
“So you found a city of trolls.” Claire clarified.  
“Yep.” Jim replied, leaning his head back against the couch cushions and closing his eyes.  
“You _went into_ said city of trolls.”  
“Mmmhmm.”  
Jim heard shuffling and felt the cushion next to him depress as Toby joined them.  
“And you let him go alone.” Claire said, directing her comment at Toby.  
“I didn’t let him go alone! The door closed! I couldn’t make it.” Toby sounded angry, probably at himself. Jim fought to open his eyes, reaching out to pat Toby’s shoulder.  
“It wasn’t your fault Tobes. I barely made it in.”  
“I should have been there with you.” Toby whispered, hanging his head.  
“I wish you had been.” Jim murmured, his eyes sliding closed again. “Don’t beat yourself up over it Tobes. It all worked out in the end”  
“What about that book you brought?” Claire asked. “It looks pretty old.”  
“I think it is. It’s a troll history book. A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore volume 47.”  
“You can read it?”  
“Mmm… a little. I recognized it, ‘s why I grabbed it.”  
Claire secured the final bandage around Jim’s leg and moved to sit on his other side. Jim felt her grab his hand, running her thumb across his knuckles.  
“What ‘bout you? Learn anything?” He asked, forcing his eyes open once more, determined to stay awake for a little longer.  
“I did.” She said. Jim sat up a little straighter, turning to her.  
“You did?” Jim and Toby asked in unison.  
Claire nodded, looking troubled. “Yeah, I did, but your not going to like what I heard.”

“It started out pretty boring. He just sat at his table drinking coffee. He didn’t have a book or T.V or anything, just stared at the wall. It was so weird. Anyway, after about an hour of that, he moved out of sight for a while. I looked in every window, but I couldn’t find him. Keep in mind, this is a one story house. There shouldn’t be many places without a window unless he went to the bathroom or something, but he was gone for a while. Like, at _least_ another hour. When he showed up again he had changed clothes and put on a long overcoat. He left the house, so I followed him.  
“He didn’t really do anything suspicious until he got to the museum. He started looking around like he was worried that he was being followed, which, to be fair, he was. Then he walked to the front and knocked on the door. The museum closed hours ago, right? So no one should have been in there, but someone was in there. Ms. Nomura came to the door and let him in! I waited a minute before trying the door myself, but they had locked it behind them. Thankfully, one of the windows had been left unlocked, so I was able to get in.  
“It took a while, but I was able to find them in a closed off exhibit near the back of the building. I hid behind one of the curtains and looked in on them but… it wasn’t them. There were monsters in there, or trolls I guess. There were three of them, a pink one, a green one, and a black one. The pink and green ones looked somewhat humanoid, but the black one was huge and bulky and didn’t look at all like a human. The green one talked in Strickler’s voice, and the pink one sounded like Nomura, but how? They were trolls.”

“Changelings” Jim muttered. Claire started, looking down him. He had long before slumped against her, resting his head on her shoulder. Claire had thought he’d fallen asleep, mainly continuing her narration for Toby’s benefit. She was a little surprised when Jim shifted, blinking his eyes open to look up at her.  
“They look like humans, but they can become trolls.” Jim furrowed his eyebrows. “I think Blinky told me about them.”  
“Who’s Blinky?” Claire asked.  
“I think he’s Jim’s guide or servant or something.” Toby answered for him. “We overheard them when they opened the door Jimbo used to get into Troll City. They were calling him ‘Master Jim’.  
“Master, huh?” Claire joked, jostling Jim. He gave her a tired smile, eyes closing again. Claire sighed, lacing her fingers into his hair. “You’re not the only one who was up all night you know.” Claire scolded gently. “We’re tired too. Though I guess it’s good your getting some rest now. In fact, we should all go ahead and get some rest. Tonight’s going to be a long night.”  
“Why? What’s happening tonight?” Toby asked. Jim cracked an eye open, looking at her curiously.  
“From what I heard at the museum last night, they needed Jim’s amulet to free Big Black’s dad, and they need Jim to operate it.”  
“What are you saying?” Toby asked, his voice jumping up half an octave.  
“I’m saying that they’re coming for Jim tonight, and we’re going to need all hands on deck.”


	9. Chapter 9

Jim pulled the stolen horngauzle from his bag as he, Toby, and Claire approached the bare stone wall. Jim turned around, meeting his friends eyes.  
“The troll city should be just behind this wall. Last time I was here, they acted like they knew me, or had at least seen me around. I don’t know how they’ll react to people they’ve never seen before.”  
“We know, Jim.” Claire told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “We’ve been over this. We’ll be careful, but were coming with you.”  
“No. I think I should go alone.”  
Claire and Toby shared a look. “Are you sure Jimbo?” Toby said. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”  
Claire shook her head. “We can’t let you go in alone. What if they turn on you? Or attack? We wouldn’t be able to get to you.”  
“I know.” Jim sighed. “but I think there'll be less odds of them turning on me if I don’t show up with two humans they’ve never met. They could kill us.” He shuffled his feet, looking down. “ I can’t put you in danger like that. I just want you two to stay safe.”  
When he didn’t get a response, Jim looked up, only to be tackled in a hug. Toby and Claire clung to him, and Jim wrapped his arms around the two in return.  
“We want you to be safe.” Claire muttered into his shoulder. Jim felt Toby nod against his stomach. They pulled away a moment later.  
Claire swiped a hand over her eyes. “Get in, get Blinky and ARRRGH!!!, get out, and try not to die, okay?”  
Jim nodded. “Of course. I’ll be back as quick as I can.” He stepped forward, giving Claire a quick kiss. He turned to Toby, patting him on the shoulder.  
Jim approached the canal wall. Taking a deep breath, he pressed the horngauzle to the smooth stone. Jim dragged the crystal in an arch, watching as it left a glowing blue line in its wake. When he’d completed the arch, Jim pressed his hand to the center. Glowing blue cracks formed across the concrete as it broke apart, revealing the entrance.  
Glancing over his shoulder, Jim offered his friends a quick grin. “See you soon.”

Jim found himself standing in front of the library, going over scenario after scenario in his head. Trolls milled about the streets behind Jim, largely ignoring his presence. His initial theory was correct. The trolls definitely knew him from somewhere, and had been very calm about his appearance.  
Lost in thought, Jim failed to notice the footsteps approaching behind him.  
“What are you doing out here, Trollhunter?”  
Jim yelped, spinning around to find an old, pale orange troll staring down at him. At least, Jim assumed he was staring at him. The trolls eyes were so clouded he could have been blind.  
“Shouldn’t you be training with Blinkous? Or has he allowed you to run around and ransack the place? Maybe alert the other humans of our presence while you’re at it?” The troll shoved Jim out of the doorway with his glowing orange staff and charged into the library. Jim cursed under his breath, hurrying after the old troll.  
“Blinkous! I thought you were supposed to watch the Trollhunter! We can’t allow a human to run unsupervised around Trollmarket, hunter or not!”  
Blinky looked up from his book, the surprise evident on his face. Jim waved frantically from behind the orange trolls back, quickly catching Blinky’s attention.  
_Play along_ , Jim mouthed. _Please. I’ll explain later._  
Blinky gave him a barely discernible nod, turning his attention back to the older troll.  
“My apologies Vendle! Master Jim, get over here!”  
Jim slipped around Vendle, crossing the room quickly to stand by his trainer. Blinky grabbed Jim’s shoulders, shaking him.  
“You were supposed to be reading! Not running amuck! What do you have to say for yourself?”  
Jim searched for a decent explanation. Judging by Vendle’s words, it sounded like Jim wasn’t allowed to wander this place unsupervised. He decided to latch onto that. “I just wanted to explore,” Jim said, hanging his head. “How am I supposed to protect this place if I’m not even aloud to walk around it?”  
“You know your not supposed to leave my sight.” Blinky pulled Jim to his side and released him. “I will have to keep a sharper eye on our Trollhunter from now on.” Blinky said, addressing Vendle. “Unless your willing to finally allow him some free reign?”  
“Absolutely not!” Vendle slammed the butt of his staff into the ground. Jim flinched at the resulting noise. “My mind has been made up. The Trollhunter will continue to be supervised and will _not_ ,” Vendle glared at Blinky. “Be allowed to leave your sight with knowledge of these proceedings.”  
“We can not contain his knowledge forever Vendle! If he is to be our protector, we must trust him!”  
“When this fleshbag has done something to earn our trust, he will have it! Until then, we have to be safe.  
“But-”  
“ENOUGH!” Vendle bellowed. Jim jumped, hiding behind Blinky. He really wasn't liking this Vendle-troll. “We will not put our kind in danger. You will either watch the fleshbag, or dispose of him. Understand?”  
Jim gulped, glancing between Blinky and Vendle. He bounced lightly on his toes, ready to run at a moment’s notice.  
Blinky bowed his head. “As you wish Vendle. I will keep a closer eye on our Trollhunter.” Jim relaxed, leaning against the table behind him. At least Blinky wasn’t going to kill him.  
“Good. Now get to work! This fleshbag needs to put in many more hours of training if he wishes to survive in his profession.” With that, Vendle turned and hobbled out of the library. Jim and Blinky stood still, listening as Vendle’s footsteps faded off down the street. When he was gone, Jim sighed in relief.  
“Thank you Blin-”  
“What are you doing here!” Blinky shouted. Jim yelped and fell, kicking himself away from the furious blue troll. Blinky stopped short, eyes softening. He offered Jim a hand.  
“My apologies, Master Jim. I did not mean to scare you.”  
Jim smiled, taking Blinky’s hand. “It’s okay Blinky.”  
“Now tell me, what is in Deya’s name is going on?”  
Jim sat on one of the library’s stools and explained, starting from the beginning. Blinky sat in front of him, staring intently at Jim. When he’d finished, Blinky sat back, his six eyes staring off into space.  
“This is not good. Changelings! Here! Oh, this is not good at all...”  
Jim knocked hesitantly on Blinky’s arm. “Um, now can you tell me what’s been going on? I still don’t have much memory of… anything, actually.”  
Blinky nodded, getting up to close the library door. “Since the amulet chose you as Trollhunter, me and my friend ARRRGH!!! have been training you to fight in order to protect trollkind.” Blinky explained. He walked to one of the many bookcases and grabbed a small box off the shelf.  
“Many were opposed to having a human Trollhunter, but through your service around Trollmarket, a lot have warmed up to you.” Opening the small box, Blinky pulled out a small glowing crystal. It pulsed a light orange color, golden veins streaking through its center.  
“Vendle, the elder of Trollmarket, was especially opposed to having a human hunter. It was through bargaining that we came to a compromise: ARRRGH!!! And I would be allowed to train you, but we would be with you at all times within Trollmarket, and you could not leave with the knowledge of our city.”  
Blinky handed Jim the crystal. Jim stared into it, watching as the golden veins pulsed and flowed in a mesmerizing pattern, glowing with energy. Jim knit his eyebrows as he looked closer, making out a scene in the light. It was him, walking around Trollmarket. He saw another, this time he was holding a pale glowing sword, swinging at stone dummies as Blinky and ARRRGH!!! watched from a distance. The scenes kept coming, one after another, faster and faster. Jim realized they weren’t just some pictures, or movie magic, they were…  
“Memories, yes. The ones we were forced to wipe from your memory every night before returning you to the surface. ARRRGH!!! and I, we knew it would only be a matter of time until the plan fell apart.” Blinky chuckled. “I’m quite surprised it lasted as long as it did before you began to disappear.”  
“How do I get them back?” Jim asked, tearing his gaze away from the mesmerizing crystal. “I can get them back, right?”  
“Of course. How else do you think we avoided re-explaining everything to you every night? What you must do is touch the point of the crystal to your forehead. It will feed all of your memories back into you.”  
Jim nodded, raising the crystal. Blinky jumped forward, moving with more speed than Jim would have expected. “Not yet! When we returned your memories before, we only gave you a few. Enough for you to know what was going on. Putting all of them back at once will overload your senses. We need to put them back gradually, over a couple of days.”  
“We don’t have a couple of days!.” Jim said, burying his face in his hands. “If we have any chance of beating the changelings, I need my memories!”  
Blinky contemplated for a minute. He got up, taking Jim by the arm and leading him over to a large, troll sized cot in the corner of the room. “Returning all of your memories at once shouldn’t do any permanent damage. If you insist on having your memories back, I suggest sitting down first.”  
“Okay.” Jim sighed, sitting down on the cot. Jim sunk into the memory foam like cusion. It was more comfortable than it looked. “I just touch this,” Jim held up the crystal, “to my head? That’s it?” Blinky gave him a nod, watching intently.  
“Okay then.” Jim said breathlessly. “Here goes nothing.” He held up the crystal, hesitated, and pressed the point to his forehead.  
A shock ran through his body and Jim’s vision turned white. His eyes rolled into his head as he slumped forward, passing out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry! It's been way too long since i've updated this! I promise i'm not going to abandon this fic, no matter how long I wait to update it.


	10. Chapter 10

Jim found himself sitting alone, surrounded by an inky darkness. He stretched out a hand, feeling the darkness swirl around his skin, soft as silk. Jim grabbed on to it, drawing it aside. The darkness shifted, revealing a river of gold cutting through the black, lighting the area with a pale glow.  
On either side of Jim were scenes from the past few weeks. Finding the amulet, auditioning for the play, stalking Strickler. Some pictures were side by side, making a cohesive line of memory. Others places were dark, the scenes broken and lost.  
The golden river shone brighter, drawing Jim’s eyes back to its swirling rapids. Pictures formed in the rivers golden depths, acting out scenes of Jim’s forgotten life.  
Jim’s eyes widened as he stretched out a hand, grasping for the memories that danced just out of reach. He plunged his arm into the shining river, grasping at them. Jim grit his teeth, forcing his arm deeper and deeper until he felt the resistance break, and he pitched forward into the river of memory.

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Jim wandered into the basement, heart racing. He snatched up a broom, holding it across his chest. A bang sounded from the corner of the room and Jim yelped, spinning to face the sound. He turned to go back upstairs, frowning when he saw the minefield of hot coals now scattered across the basement floor. Jim crouched down, prodding one of the coals with the shaft of his broom. He shrugged, writing it off when he heard a shuffle behind him.  
“Master Jim!” Blinky shouted. Jim screamed, dropping his broom and scrambling away.  
“We have found you! Nice to finally make your acquaintance, Trollhunter!”

“For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command.” Jim read. The wind picked up, tousling his hair as a small blue spark flew up from the amulet. Jim smiled, eyes wide in wonder as the spark floated lazily in front of him, circling once around his head before plunging into his chest.  
A surge of energy ran through his body, exploding over his chest. Jim felt his feet leave the ground as a force pulled him upwards, surrounding him in a smoky blue light. When the glow faded, he stood clad in glowing silver armor. Jim stretched, feeling how the armor moved with him perfectly, as if made for him.  
The amulet mounted on his chest clicked once more, sending another spark of light down to his hand. The glow grew and widened, growing heavier. When it cleared, Jim held a shimmering silver sword in his hand. He lifted it above his head, grinning at his reflection. Between the sword and armor, he resembled a knight.  
Jim slashed the sword through the air, laughing. “This is so freaking cool!”

Jim lunged at the stone target, sword in hand, and sliced it in half. He looked towards Blinky, a satisfied smile on his face. Blinky gave him four thumbs up.  
A dull thunk sounded somewhere under Jim’s feet and he ducked into a roll a half second before a sharp sickle-like blade slid up from the floor where he’d been standing.  
“Excellent, Master Jim!” Blinky exclaimed. “Your reflexes are truly remarkable.”  
Jim sheathed Daylight, panting as he left the training area.  
Blinky switched off the forge, wrapping an arm around Jim’s shoulders as they walked towards the library.  
“Vendle may have his doubts, but I believe you will be a great Trollhunter someday.”  
Jim grinned, leaning in to him. “Thanks Blinky. I hope so.”

“So, I’m supposed to always be afraid, unless there are goblins. If there are goblins, afraid is the last thing I want to be.”  
Blinky shrugged, plucking a book off the shelf. “Goblins are attracted to the scent of fear. This can be used to your advantage, but it can also be your downfall. Learning to control your fear is an important aspect of a Trollhunters training.” Blinky sat at his table, motioning for Jim to join him.  
“Allright, now. What does this say?”

“I still don’t get it Blink. How am I supposed to protect everyone if I can’t even remember what’s going on? Wouldn’t it help to have someone outside of Trollmarket keeping an eye on things?” Jim asked.  
Blinky stared at the golden crystal in his hand. “Vendle is afraid. He fears you will turn on us, lead the other humans right to us.”  
“But I wouldn’t! Not if I know about all of this!” Jim said, gesturing around. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. “Doing all this Trollhunting stuff hasn’t been helping much in my daily life. I’m always tired and I don’t know why. The amulet creeps me out. I keep getting little glimpses of memory, not enough to know what’s going on, but enough to suspect something.” Jim looked at Blinky. “It won’t be long before I start rebelling. As it is, I didn’t want to come with you tonight.”  
Blinky shook his head. “I am aware. I’ve talked to Vendle, but he still believes we’re better off this way.”  
“Can’t I leave myself a note? Not to tell myself what’s going on, but enough to keep me from running away?”  
“Would that help? Or would it make you dig deeper into this mystery?”  
“Ugh, good point.” Jim tapped his finger against his lips. “What if we don’t wipe my memory? If Vendle asks, I can pretend. It wouldn’t be that hard.”  
Again, Blinky shook his head. “Vendle is an intuitive old goat. He wouldn’t buy it for a minute, and if he finds you trying to go against him,” Blinky drew a finger across his neck. Jim gulped.  
“Well, lets get it over with.” Jim sighed. Blinky nodded, touching the tip of the crystal to Jim’s forehead.

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Jim gasped awake, sitting bolt upright. The room spun and pitched around him. He listed sideways.  
“Woah! Careful there Jimbo.” Hands grabbed Jims shoulders, holding him upright. Jim blearily looked up, meeting Toby’s concerned gaze. His head lolled against Toby’s shoulder as he closed his eyes, waiting for the dizziness to pass.  
“Did you get your memories back?” Toby asked excitedly. When Jim nodded, Toby shouted in triumph, pumping his fist in the air.  
“How long was I out?” Jim croaked.  
“Only a couple hours.” Blinky’s voice responded from across the room, but there was something off. He didn’t sound like the jovial scholar he now remembered. Worry imbued his voice.  
Jim pushed himself up, eyes searching the room, settling on his friends one at a time. Blinky, ARRRGH!!!, Toby. Even Draal was there, sitting in the back corner, sharpening his axe as he watched the door. Almost everyone was there, except…  
“Where’s Claire?” Jim asked, fear already beginning to build. ARRRGH!!! hung his head as Toby looked away.  
“Blinky?” Jim pleaded. “Where’s Claire?”  
“I’m so sorry Master Jim.” Blinky said sadly. “ but Fair Claire was taken captive by Bular. We are her only hope of rescue.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, It's been a while. I think its been almost a month since i've updated. Sorry guys, but hope this satisfies!

**Author's Note:**

> So this started as a random thought and just kind of exploded. I'm not exactly sure where i'm going with this, but I have an idea. Like always, any and all criticism is welcome and encouraged. I'll try to update this as soon as I can.


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